Traditional Undergrad News

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Combatting Human Trafficking One Cupcake at a Time

After attending a conference about human trafficking, Cornerstone University sophomore Brittany Jacobson knew God was calling her to take action. And that calling came covered in buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache.

She founded New Creation Cupcake Co. last year upon the principle of changing women’s lives one cupcake at a time.

She gives 20 percent of her profits from her business to strip club ministries and local safehouses to combat the issue of sex slavery.

“…to me, these girls are just like the cupcakes – they are beautiful, fun and full of personality,” Jacobson wrote on her blog. “These girls are loved by people who may not even know their names and they are made in the image of God. What kind of baker would I be to portray anything less than that? I used to look at cupcakes differently. I’d look at them and see the cupcakes for what they were: mini cakes with frosting and the occasional decoration. Now, I look at cupcakes and I see potential. I see opportunity, and I see a beautiful girl who is patiently waiting for a way out, desperately seeking to regain a childhood where happily-ever-afters do exist.”

She has delivered dozens of cupcakes to strip clubs just to show the women they are loved.

Cost for a single cupcake ranges from $1.75 to $1.25 for orders of 25 or more. Jacobson offers 11 different varieties to choose from. For information on how to order, visit newcreationcupcakes.wordpress.com or call 231-735-6835. She provides cupcakes for family events, weddings and corporate occasions.

As a full-time, married student majoring in journalism, Jacobson is very involved in campus life as well.

She serves as a leader of an on-campus social justice group, ACT:S, is a Child Ambassador for World Vision and is an assistant managing editor of The Herald, the student newspaper.

In addition, she is planning a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in December with Christ's Hope International to bring the stories of the children and families back to the United States and spend time building relationships with the kids there.

She also will serve as vice president of community outreach for Cornerstone University Student Government next year.

“I hope to eventually start a bakery to have afterschool programs for inner city kids to work in the prevention aspect of human trafficking and provide a safe place for women who have been trafficked, and employ women who have been rescued,” she said. “That may be years off, but I'm really hoping that we just continue to raise awareness for human trafficking and continue teaching the women how to bake, giving them job skills and begin working in the prevention aspect, caring for the women at risk in our area.”

She has named the cupcakes to serve as educational pieces as well. The “Quarter Mile” cupcake, a vanilla and Heath bar cupcake with vanilla buttercream and shaved Heath pieces, stands for the 80 percent of victims who are trafficked within a quarter mile of their home.